It’s been a busy week for Seahawks general manager John Schneider and the rest of the personnel staff of the defending Super Bowl champs.
As of Thursday afternoon, the Seahawks saw five free agents sign elsewhere during the first week of the league’s negotiating period, including Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III (Chiefs), while signing or reaching agreement to sign or keep 11 of their own players. Thursday they signed three from other teams.
Schneider offered some thoughts on what has occurred during his weekly radio appearance on Seattle Sports 710 on the Wyman and Bob Show.
Here are some highlights:
Seahawks hung in to get Shaheed
Of the Seahawks’ six most significant free agents from a contract standpoint, the team was able to keep two — receiver Rashid Shaheed and cornerback Josh Jobe.
Reports last week seemed to hint that Shaheed might go elsewhere, stating that he and the Seahawks were not close on an extension. He re-signed to a three-year deal worth up to $51 million with $23 million fully guaranteed.
Schneider acknowledged there was a time it was unclear if Shaheed would return.
“We thought that was going to be very difficult to get him back,” Schneider said. “We just hung with it, hung with it, and he really wanted to be here. He loved his experience here; he loves everybody in the building; we gave up two draft picks for him (a fourth and fifth in November to the Saints). … We knew that one was going to be hard, so we were able to stay in range with him (and get him back).”
The Seahawks re-signed Jobe for three years and up to $24 million with $9.25 million fully guaranteed.
“Getting Josh back was big for us,” Schneider said.
Those are the only contracts the Seahawks have signed during the free agent period of longer than two years.
Free agency ‘a hard time of year’
The show was the first time Schneider has talked since Walker and four other free agents signed elsewhere — cornerback Riq Woolen (Eagles), rush end Boye Mafe (Bengals), safety Coby Bryant (Bears) and receiver Dareke Young (Raiders).
“It’s hard,” Schneider said of seeing the four depart, all of whom were part of the team’s heralded draft class of 2022 that followed the trade of quarterback Russell Wilson the month before. “You try to map it out, and we’re excited about what’s happened. … You know we are making tough decisions and we just won a world championship with these guys and they become fan favorites. And yeah, it’s a hard time of the year.”
Schneider reiterated what he’s said previously, that decisions about individual players have to fit within the framework of what is best for the overall 90-man offseason roster and the 70-man in-season roster (active plus practice squad).
“All these guys are really good players and you’d love to have everybody back,” he said. “And we talked about that collective, the 90, our 70, the pieces of fitting everybody in. And sometimes it can be in range (to re-sign a player) and sometimes it can’t.”
Schneider noted that it’s not just about what the roster looks like from a salary-cap and cash-spending standpoint but decisions that may come down the road. The Seahawks appear to be gearing up to re-sign receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and cornerback Devon Witherspoon to costly extensions at some point over the next year.
“It’s like ‘OK, where’s it going to be salary wise and what does our future look like this year and two-three years down the line and who are we going to be extending?’ and all that kind of stuff,” he said of negotiations with free agents. “So it’s a big puzzle.”
Seahawks will keep working at running back
Of the four free agents who got big-money deals this week to sign elsewhere, Walker is viewed by many as the biggest loss if only because the Seahawks have either replacements or proven depth available at the other spots.
Schneider acknowledged there is still some work to do at the running-back spot saying: “That’s an area — we like our guys we love the guys on our team right now — but we’ll be continuing to look at that position.”
The Seahawks did some of that work Thursday when they agreed to a one-year deal with free agent running back Emanuel Wilson of Green Bay worth up to $2.1 million.
The 5-foot-10, 226-pound Wilson has been the backup for Josh Jacobs the last two seasons with the Packers, rushing for 998 yards combined during that span.
“Here’s a 230-pound guy with great feet and you sign a one-year deal like that it’s kind of like a, ‘Come on in, come be part of our culture, come prove it, see what you can do and compete with the group,’” Schneider said. “And he gives us something different, he’s a heavy runner. Excited about him.”
Schneider said it shouldn’t be overlooked that the Seahawks have George Holani on the roster, tendering him last week as an exclusive rights free agent.
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Schneider noted Holani served as the backup to Walker for the NFC title game and Super Bowl after Zach Charbonnet was sidelined with a torn ACL.
“He was awesome in the NFC Championship Game and he was awesome in the Super Bowl,” Schneider said of the third-year player out of Boise State. “His pass protection, he made that (catch in the Super Bowl), was a real huge play for us. … every time he goes into the game he just performs.”
Schneider said the reports on Charbonnet since his surgery have been “very positive’’ but he did not give a an estimate on a return. The typical timeline for a recovery from an ACL injury is 9-10 months.
Rodney Thomas a ‘buy-in’ player
The Seahawks on Thursday reached agreement to sign free agent safety Rodney Thomas II of the Colts. Thomas was a starting free safety for the Colts in 2022 and 2023 but has been used in reserve and situational roles the past two seasons.
Schneider said Thomas — listed at 6-foot-1, 196 pounds — was a particular favorite of Seahawks assistant director of pro personnel Armani Perez.
“Very rangy, intelligent, instinctive player that loves our defense and had other opportunities and wanted to come here and compete in our safety room,” Schneider said.
“… It’s a total buy-in guy and the fact that he wanted to be here is big for us as well. Come here on a one-year deal and jump into this thing and see what you got.”
Bob Condotta: bcondotta@seattletimes.com. Bob Condotta is a sports reporter at The Seattle Times who primarily covers the Seahawks but also dabbles in other sports. He has worked at The Times since 2002, reporting on University of Washington Husky football and basketball for his first 10 years at the paper before switching to the Seahawks in 2013.